Brazil

Brazil made significant progress in managing water resources since the adoption of the National Water Law in 1997 and the creation of the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA) in 2000. Nevertheless, water security challenges persist and will be aggravated by megatrends such as climate change, population growth, urbanisation, and the economic, social and environmental consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report calls for a modern approach to water security, balancing supply and demand management, grey and green infrastructure, and risk management and resilience while embracing a holistic view that connects water to other strategic areas such as environment, land use and territorial development. The report builds on a decade of policy dialogue between the OECD and the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA) of Brazil. It provides an action plan to support the country to: (1) shift from a risk-based approach to a resilience approach to understand vulnerabilities and minimise the duration and magnitude of failures; (2) make river basin organisations deliver and use economic instruments to tackle water risks; and (3) accompany infrastructure development with regulatory oversight and monitoring.

A atenção primária à saúde tem um modelo bem organizado no Brasil, o que é resultado de compromissos contínuos com a prestação de serviços de atenção primária de alta qualidade para toda a população. Nas últimas décadas, o Brasil implementou uma série de reformas a fim de aprimorar a distribuição de médicos pelo país, o desenvolvimento de novas formas de organização de serviços, a introdução de novos modelos de financiamento e a execução de uma série de iniciativas para o aprimoramento da qualidade. Esta avaliação utiliza-se de indicadores e métodos de análise em políticas públicas para examinar o desempenho do sistema de atenção primária brasileiro, em uma perspectiva comparada reconhecida internacionalmente. Embora o estudo ressalte exemplos notáveis de sucesso, o Brasil continua a enfrentar desafios na atenção primária à medida que sua população envelhece, fatores de risco como obesidade encontram-se em ascensão e ameaças de novas pandemias demandam maior resiliência e adaptabilidade do sistema de saúde. O estudo aponta ações-chave que o Brasil deveria considerar nos próximos anos a fim de fortalecer o desempenho da atenção primária à saúde, especialmente no tocante à realização da prevenção e rastreamento das principais doenças não transmissíveis, melhoria de indicadores de qualidade do provimento da atenção primária, enfrentamento dos déficits de força de trabalho e a busca de uma transformação digital. Uma publicação adicional sobre o sistema de saúde no Brasil examina os principais desafios e abordagens necessários para aprimorar o desempenho do sistema de saúde brasileiro.

Primary health care in Brazil is well-organised, the result of sustained commitment to providing high quality primary health care for the whole population. Brazil has implemented a set of reforms over the past decades to improve the distribution of doctors, develop new forms of service organisation, introduce new financing models, and implement a range of quality improvement initiatives. This review uses internationally recognised indicators and policy frameworks to examine the performance of primary health care in Brazil. While the review points to notable successes, Brazil continues to face challenges as its population ages, risk factors such as obesity are on the rise, and emerging pandemic threats require resilience and adaptability. The report points to key actions that Brazil should consider in the coming years to strengthen performance of primary health care, especially screening and prevention for major non-communicable diseases, improve quality of primary health care provision, address workforce shortages and pursue a digital transformation. A companion publication with a health system review of Brazil examines the main challenges and approaches needed to improve the performance of the Brazilian health system.

In the 30 years since the inception of the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, or SUS), Brazil has reduced health inequalities, and improved coverage and access to health care. However, mobilising sufficient financing for the universal health coverage mandate of SUS has been a constant challenge, not helped by persistent inefficiencies in the use of resources in the Brazilian health system. Demographic and epidemiological changes, rising expectations from society, and the emerging needs of a post-COVID‑19 recovery period mean that continued adjustments and reforms are needed to ensure the sustainability of the health system. This review uses internationally recognised indicators and policy frameworks to examine the performance of Brazilian health system. The report points to key actions that Brazil should consider prioritising in the coming years to strengthen health system performance, especially improving efficiency and sustainability of financing, upgrading its health data infrastructure to leverage a digital transformation, and addressing major population risk factors such as overweight and harmful alcohol consumption. A companion publication with a review of primary health care in Brazil further examines the key role of primary health care to improve the performance of the Brazilian health system.

Nos 30 anos desde a criação do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), o Brasil diminuiu desigualdades em saúde e expandiu a cobertura e o acesso a serviços de saúde. No entanto, a mobilização de financiamento suficiente para garantir uma cobertura universal tem sido um desafio constante, situação essa que é agravada pelas persistentes ineficiências no uso de recursos no sistema de saúde brasileiro. Mudanças demográficas e epidemiológicas, o aumento das expectativas por parte da sociedade e as novas demandas que se apresentam para o período de recuperação pós-COVID-19 deixam claros que melhorias e reformas contínuas são necessários para fortalecer o sistema de saúde e garantir sua sustentabilidade. Este estudo utiliza-se de indicadores e métodos de análise em políticas públicas para examinar o desempenho do sistema de saúde brasileiro, em uma perspectiva comparada reconhecida internacionalmente. O relatório aponta ações-chave que o Brasil deveria considerar priorizar nos próximos anos a fim de fortalecer o desempenho de seu sistema de saúde, especialmente no tocante à melhoria da eficiência, eficácia e sustentabilidade de seu financiamento, a modernização de sua infraestrutura de dados em saúde como forma de impulsionar uma transformação digital e o enfrentamento aos principais fatores de risco à saúde da população, tais como o sobrepeso e o consumo nocivo de álcool. Uma publicação adicional sobre a atenção primária no Brasil publicado simultaneamente examina o papel central da modernização e fortalecimento da atenção primária à saúde no desempenho do sistema de saúde brasileiro.

Mainstreaming integrity policies throughout a public administration is a common challenge in many countries. Brazil’s Office of the Comptroller General (CGU) has implemented a series of measures to do so, including establishing the Public Integrity System of the Federal Executive Branch (SIPEF). This report analyses these recent developments and provides recommendations on how to better promote a culture of integrity through the Integrity Management Units with targeted support by the CGU. The report also highlights opportunities to improve the clarity and coherence of policies to promote public integrity and public ethics, manage conflicts of interest, and foster integrity risk management by streamlining these areas under the umbrella of public integrity.

A consolidação das políticas de integridade em todos os órgão e entidades da administração pública é um desafio compartilhado por muitos países. No Brasil, a Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU) desenvolveu os Programas de Integridade Pública, que incluem a designação de uma Unidade de Gestão da Integridade (UGI) e a elaboração de Planos de Integridade em todas os 186 órgãos e entidades da Administração Pública federal direta, autárquica e fundacional. Recentemente, este esforço conduziu à implantação do Sistema de Integridade Pública do Poder Executivo Federal (SIPEF). Este relatório analisa o desenvolvimento dessas ações e propõe recomendações para fortalecer o SIPEF, as UGIs e a CGU, com vistas à promoção de uma cultura de integridade. Ao fazer isso, o relatório também evidencia oportunidades para aperfeiçoar a compreensão e a coerência das políticas destinadas a promover a integridade pública, a ética pública, a gestão de conflitos de interesse e a fomentar a gestão de riscos para a integridade, simplificando essas áreas sob a égide da integridade pública.

Many Latin American countries have experienced improvements in income over recent decades, with several of them now classified as high-income or upper middle-income in terms of conventional metrics. But has this change been mirrored in improvements across the different areas of people’s lives? How’s Life in Latin America? Measuring Well-being for Policy Making addresses this question by presenting comparative evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with a focus on 11 LAC countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay). Spanning material conditions, quality of life, resources for future well-being, and inequalities, the report presents available evidence on well-being both before and since the onset of the pandemic, based on the OECD Well-being Framework. It also identifies priorities for addressing well-being gaps and describes how well-being frameworks are used in policy within Latin America and elsewhere around the world, providing lessons for governments on what is needed to put people’s well-being at the centre of their action. The report is part of the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean.

As “market referees”, regulators contribute to the delivery of essential public utilities. Their organisational culture, behaviour, actions and governance are important factors in how they, and the sectors they oversee, perform. The OECD Performance Assessment Framework for Economic Regulators (PAFER) looks at the institutions, processes and practices that can create an organisational culture of performance and results. This report uses PAFER to assess both the internal and external governance of Brazil’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL). The review offers recommendations for the regulator to build upon its strong technical reputation and good practices. It proposes an integrated set of recommendations to help the regulator best fulfil its role as a key actor supporting sector modernisation.

Como “árbitros de mercado”, os reguladores contribuem para a prestação de serviços públicos essenciais. Sua cultura organizacional, comportamento, ações e governança são fatores importantes na forma como eles, e os setores que supervisionam, atuam. O Quadro de Avaliação de Desempenho para Reguladores Econômicos da OCDE (PAFER) analisa as instituições, processos e práticas que podem criar uma cultura organizacional de desempenho e resultados. Este relatório utiliza o PAFER para avaliar a governança interna e externa da Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ANEEL). O relatório oferece recomendações para que o regulador possa desenvolver sua sólida reputação técnica e suas boas práticas. É proposto um conjunto integrado de recomendações para ajudar o regulador a desempenhar melhor seu papel como um importante ator na modernização do setor.

Under Action 14, countries have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits countries to endeavour to resolve disputes related to the interpretation and application of tax treaties. The Action 14 Minimum Standard has been translated into specific terms of reference and a methodology for the peer review and monitoring process. The peer review process is conducted in two stages. Stage 1 assesses countries against the terms of reference of the minimum standard according to an agreed schedule of review. Stage 2 focuses on monitoring the follow-up of any recommendations resulting from jurisdictions' stage 1 peer review report. This report reflects the outcome of the stage 2 peer monitoring of the implementation of the Action 14 Minimum Standard by Brazil.

Using household data from 15 countries in Latin America and Africa, this paper explores linkages between informality and education-occupation matching. The paper applies a unified methodology to measuring education-occupation mismatches and informality, consistently with the international labour and statistical standards in this area. The results suggest that in the majority of low- and middle-income developing countries with available data, workers in informal jobs have higher odds of being undereducated as compared to workers in formal jobs. Workers in formal jobs, in contrast, have higher chances of being overeducated. These results are consistent for dependent as well as for independent workers. They also hold for men and for women according to the gender-disaggregated analysis. Moreover, in the majority of countries considered in this paper, the matching-informality nexus is also related to the extent of informality in a given area: in labour markets with higher informality, informal workers in particular have a higher chance of being undereducated. The paper discusses policy implications of these findings.

This country policy profile on education in Brazil is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Brazil (2015), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today in terms of strengths and challenges, and how this compares to other systems. This profile also analyses the evolution of ongoing and emerging related policy efforts in Brazil, including education responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. It brings together over a decade's worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as recent OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. The report also benefits from the Education Policy Outlook's ongoing comparative analysis of resilience and responsiveness in education policy. This profile is complemented by its companion report Education Policy Outlook: Brazil - with a focus on international policies (both also available in Portuguese).

This country policy profile on education in Brazil is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Brazil (2015), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today and how this compares to other systems. This profile offers relevant international policy examples that may serve as possible inspiration as policy makers work to address Brazil's key challenges and priorities, including in the post-COVID recovery. It brings together over a decade's worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as recent OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. The report also benefits from the Education Policy Outlook's ongoing comparative analysis of resilience and responsiveness in education policy. This profile is complemented by its companion report Education Policy Outlook: Brazil - with a focus on national and subnational policies (both also available in Portuguese).

In light of recent education reforms, Brazil is currently considering a series of changes to the purpose and design of its Basic Education Assessment System (Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica, SAEB), which has been a critical source of information about student learning outcomes for the past 30 years. To inform these discussions, the OECD was invited to review a set of policy proposals for reforming the current SAEB so that it more closely aligns with Brazil’s new learning standards and provides data to support a range of education actors - from the classroom to the ministry – in their efforts to raise educational performance and reduce inequalities. The findings from this OECD Review are set out in the below policy perspective.

The state of Paraná, one of Brazil’s most populated and developed states, has been aligning its public policies with sustainable development since the 1990s. More recently, Paraná has used the SDGs as a tool and framework to reduce longstanding challenges related to health, education and safety as well as to address global megatrends affecting the state such as climate change, demographic pressures and digitalisation. Despite the absence of a state-wide sustainable development plan, Paraná is aligning its Multi-Year Plan (PPA) for 2020-23 and other planning and budgeting tools with the SDGs to face the socio-economic territorial disparities within the state. Through a multi-stakeholder governance framework, guidelines and financial contributions, the state provides incentives to align local and regional planning systems with the 2030 Agenda and to address sustainable development challenges in an integrated way.

This report compiles comparable tax revenue statistics over the period 1990-2019 for 27 Latin American and Caribbean economies. Based on the OECD Revenue Statistics database, it applies the OECD methodology to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to enable comparison of tax levels and tax structures on a consistent basis, both among the economies of the region and with other economies. This publication is jointly undertaken by the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, the OECD Development Centre, the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The 2021 edition is produced with the support of the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean, which results from joint work led by the European Union, the OECD and its Development Centre, and ECLAC.

Career guidance for adults is a fundamental lever to help adults successfully navigate constantly evolving labour markets. As labour markets in Latin America are hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and mega trends such as globalisation and digitalisation continue to impact labour demand, support is urgently needed. Millions of adults have lost their jobs and need to identify new career options. However, career guidance for adults is still rare in Latin America. More common are vocational guidance programmes for young people, or labour intermediation services for adults. This report analyses career guidance initiatives for adults in four Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico). It emphasises the need to establish career guidance higher up on the policy agenda of the region. Lessons are drawn on how to strengthen the coverage and inclusiveness of career guidance, provision and service delivery, quality and impact, as well as governance and funding. The findings build on information collected through the 2020 Survey of Career Guidance for Adults (SCGA), an online survey of adults’ experience with career guidance.